“Poor Things” indeed — for viewers who now have to wait a few more months, at least.
Searchlight Pictures has just moved Yorgos Lanthimos‘ Frankenstein retelling off its planned September 8 release date to a December 8, 2023 holiday-adjacent opening. The Disney-owned distributor and production company made the announcement Tuesday morning mere hours after the Venice Film Festival director confirmed the movie for a world premiere competition spot.
The shift comes as studios start to debate what movies they can push forward sans talent amid SAG-AFTRA strike orders that prevent union members from promoting their work in any form — that includes interviews, social media, and flashbulb-lit festival red carpets that draw attention to fall season Oscar hopefuls.
Still, “Poor Things” will sail ahead as originally predicted on the Lido without Emma Stone, Mark Ruffalo, Willem Dafoe, and more from the ensemble to wave at paparazzi from water taxis and participate in press conferences, screening intros, and standing ovations. Will Lanthimos show up without his actors? He won the Grand Jury Prize in 2018 for his Oscar-winning “The Favourite” and Best Screenplay in 2011 for “Alps.”
“Poor Things” is based on Scottish author Alasdair Gray’s postmodern 1992 novel about a woman who drowns herself to escape her abusive husband and is resurrected with the brain of her unborn child. Ramy Youssef, Jerrod Carmichael, Christopher Abbott, Margaret Qualley, and Kathryn Hunter also star.
A Bloomberg report yesterday suggested that Disney was considering moving, in addition to “Poor Things,” “Wish” and Toronto International Film Festival world premiere “Next Goal Wins,” also a Searchlight title. “Next Goal” is set for November 17, which buys the studio some time. “Wish” follows suit on November 22, but both films are presumably Oscar hopefuls. Studios are in wait-and-see mode right now with releases as SAG-AFTRA and WGA continue to tussle with the AMPTP. On the indie side, A24 recently paused the theatrical release of writer/director Julio Torres’ SXSW breakout “Problemista.” The studio has Sofia Coppola’s “Priscilla” headed to Venice but without a firm theatrical release date set.
Recently, MGM/Amazon moved “Challengers” off its planned September release date to April 26, withdrawing it from the Venice opening night slot as well. During this morning’s Venice press conference, festival director Alberto Barbera said he does not expect any further films to be yanked from the lineup, and that would include “Poor Things.”
